


Cynefin- Shinobi Beginnings.

by Jinxed_Eclipse



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And not enough adults, BAMF Hatake Kakashi, BAMF Nara Shikamaru, BAMF Uchiha Sasuke, BAMF Yamanaka Ino, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Neglect, Clan bullshit (Naruto), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Gen, Hatake Kakashi Is Trying, Help, History, I don't have an IQ of 200 but my character does, I have built a hill and it is where I will die, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Konoha ninja academy - Freeform, Lots of OCs - Freeform, M/M, Manipulation, Mystery, Ninja being actual ninja, Nobody Is Useless, On the Run, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, POV Hatake Kakashi, POV Nara Shikamaru, POV Uchiha Sasuke, Politics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Naruto Canon Era, Pre-genin everybody (Naruto), Some dark themes, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Uzumaki characters, War comes early, What did the academy actually teach, correction not enough stable adults, enemies to friends to siblings, everyone is scared and confused, fuck all the adults they suck, ish, morals? what morals, no beta we die like shinobi, slow burn found family, technically just third person POV, there are many... MANY children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25632790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinxed_Eclipse/pseuds/Jinxed_Eclipse
Summary: Where there is love, there is hate, and where there is peace, war will soon follow. Four years after Konoha lost both her founding clans, her enemies have gathered the courage and confidence to attack while they believe her weak.In the Konoha Shinobi Academy, the children learn about teamwork, death and how to be shinobi, and in the process lose their village, their morals and themselves. When it is up to a handful of pre-genin to end a war the outcome seems unfortunately certain, but the younger generation will always find a way to surpass their elders.CynefinA relationship to the environment in which you live and to which you are naturally acclimatized. Eg: Home.NOTE: As mentioned before, I am extremely busy for the next few months, try not to expect much until Feb 2021:) But I'm still young so feel free to leave tips or constructive criticism! <3
Relationships: Hyuuga Neji & Nara Shikamaru, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nara Shikamaru & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, referenced Sarutobi Asuma/Yuuhi Kurenai
Comments: 16
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue.

**Author's Note:**

> Please keep in mind that these are the characters before graduation. Naruto does not have the Shadow clones, Sasuke doesn't have the sharingan, Lee has not been taught by Gai yet and none of them have been taught anything they would have learned under their jounin sensei or in their last year. Their belief structures, techniques and abilities may at times be very different to what you'd expect.

He really regrets joining the academy.  
He wants to know exactly how everything had gotten so messed up, because outside the windows chaos runs wild, and inside them Shikamaru’s breathing feels too short. He stumbles back, leaning against one of the tables, his rapid exhale sounds alarmingly loud in the frozen quiet of the classroom. He tares his gaze away from the body and glances over to the back corner of the class, and his voice catches in his throat,  
“He- You can come out now, was anyone injured?” He asks lowly, straightening as he glances over the huddle of people.  
Hinata’s sister-Hanabi, his mind supplies idly-steps in front of the little group, their apparent leader, she looks slightly green in the face but handles it better than the rest of her age mates. Someone retches in the back of the group, and like the flick of a switch, two of the others begin crying anew, quietly because Shikamaru had made very clear the need for silence.  
Hanabi’s eyes, iridescent and large, fill with tears and her voice shakes as she says, “Hai, Nara-senpai. W-wakana-san has a scratch on her arm and Kidou-san sprained his wrist…”  
As he makes a mental note of them, she glances at the tied-up body and her lips tremble, accidentally letting his gaze follow hers and fall back on his first human kill Shikamaru’s empty gut rolls and he quickly pulls his gaze away.  
“Hanabi?” He asks quietly, sighing tiredly and dragging a hand over his face. He really wishes he could be a cloud instead.  
She looks back at him as the veins around her eyes bulge, sniffs and says, “This area is clear, I can see no more people.”  
He glances at the scared group of five, still huddled close together, they look terrified and while they look at him with some fear, they are more scared of being without him. Three of them are six including Hanabi, and the other two are only a year older. Shikamaru, eleven in a few months, is the oldest person they’ve come across so far.

He didn’t want this. He didn’t want the responsibility. He was not his father and he was sure he was the worst person they could have possibly found, because Shikamaru Nara was a coward. He wasn’t Naruto with his endless bravado or Kiba with his fierce protectiveness or even Sasuke with his lack of fear, anyone of the three would protect all of the kids no matter what. Shikamaru was no protector, because if it came down to it- he looked over the four civilians and one unmarked Hyuuga- he’d probably let all of them die in exchange for her.


	2. 1. This is why I don't socialize.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feat. Shikamaru's inner despair, sneaking around and meeting a cooperative Sasuke...

### This is why I don't socialize. 

####  Konoha

The village was under attack. Shikamaru wasn't certain who was doing the attacking other than Sound. Except Sound shouldn't have been able to attack alone, the village was new, with rumors about the little village having only begun. They were not acting alone.

The seals protecting the academy were falling apart. One of the places they should have been safe at was now compromised. The academy teachers, scattered or dead. (Shikamaru resisted the bile rising at the thought.) Meaning they were not safe in here, or at least not for long. Which was bad, because the outside didn't look any safer.

And worst of all, the ANBU meant to take any high priority students away had been stalled, killed or otherwise incapacitated. They were on their own. Which meant there were around six clan heirs, the last member of the Uchiha clan, an Uzumaki, other important clan and civilian children, the Sandaime's grandson, and two unprotected Byakugan holders, all in the same place. Shikamaru has to violently squash down the urge to cry. Hysterically.

He desperately wants to rewind his life a few years and tell his parents that he doesn't want to be a shinobi. He would like to have a desk job or be an analyst. Only to stay very far from all the crazy thank you very much. Maybe then he wouldn't be in a room with five kids half his age who are all scared of him, with blood on his hands and no sign of his friends. His gut clenches at the thought, _'Choji, Ino…'_

He allows himself a few moments of rest as the kids comfort each other in quiet tones. He says nothing as the youngest boy stares at him through teary eyes, shaking when Shikamaru notices. He pushes himself to his feet and calls softly for the little Huuga. She looks up at him and he motions to the door, she nods, remembering the plan Shikamaru had explained to them.

Shikamaru straightens tucking the stolen weapons away, he doesn't really care that he'd killed someone. He's a raised shinobi, he's seen death before and he's one of few who had little to no illusions about what they would be doing. He does not think about whether the shinobi had a family, of whether they will wonder about his death. Or if he was another poor orphan caught in the crosshairs of more powerful forces. And yet his mind runs away from him when he looks at the tiny kid leaning away from him. 

He prods a finger at his side, where the skin looks mottled by a bruise, and winces as a dull pain aches up his side. He can feel the phantom of the man's foot against his ribs, and can only be thankful that nothing had broken. Pulling in a deep breath, he made his way to the door, casting a glance back at the five kids. At a kunai shaking in each of their clammy grips, and steels himself as he leads children into danger.

Hanabi's field of vision is smaller than her sister's or her cousins' but it still serves its purpose. Making her one of the best people Shikamaru could have run into as their village is invaded. He glances at her and she gives him the affirmative. They begin quickly making their way past him, out of the room and into the corridor. Shikamaru lets his eyes flick between the direction they're heading in, and back to the other end. Where the corridor ends in darkness and the stairs to the roof start.

They shuffle quietly around the corner after Shikamaru and Hanabi give the clear and quickly dart into the classroom. Her breath puffs out in relief and he feigns ignorance. He lets his eyes take in every inch of the classroom and can't help his shoulders relaxing a little when he recognizes the room. The one where their training weapons used to get stored, before the academy had allowed them to use their own.

He wastes no time before unlocking the cupboard with a twist of Hanabi's discarded hair pin. Most focused on the flashy attention-grabbing side of being a shinobi; the frontline styles. Shikamaru fell in with most of his clan, preferring the subtle side hidden in shadows.

He grabbed a spool of ninja wire propped against the side of the cupboard and handed the little pack of senbon to Hanabi. He carefully divided some of the supplies between the others, leaving everything else untouched.

The chakra paths around Hanabi's eyes bulge, and she tenses, setting Shikamaru on edge, "There's three people ahead, one is smaller and the other two seem to be fighting that one, and one of the two might be injured?" 

Shikamaru curses mentally, he points to one of the long desks and the five kids obediently get behind it as he instructs them on what to do in a low voice. The desk should provide some cover, if not protection, in case things go to shit and someone gets inside. He slips out of the sliding door, following Hanabi's directions and the clear sounds of a nearby fight, that rises above the background noise of chaos they had somehow gotten used to in only a handful of minutes. He sticks close to the walls, drawing comfort from the shadows cast by the walls, as he gets farther away from the classroom.

He hears an enraged growl and the sharp clang of metal against metal. Tilting his head around the corner he sees two strange looking sound shinobi, both probably two or three years older than him, looking only slightly worse for wear than the third person defending against them. Shikamaru catches the other's dark eyes as he ducks a punch and kicks the girl into her partner and then the wall. A conversation of sorts passes between them as the girl and boy scramble back to their feet, backs to Shikamaru's corner, the two are snarling angrily,

  
"Damn Uchiha, I'll kill you!" The girl snarls, taking a step forward, ready to throw herself back into a fight, and that's when Shikamaru acts.  


The two enemy nin freeze in their tracks (and if he could see their faces, he would see their split second of fear) and Sasuke lashes out, quick as lightning, and a kunai to the throat ends the two. The boy gurgles something, choking on his own blood, but there is no further movement as Shikamaru's shadow holds them firmly in place. The girl's hand goes slack as her eyes glaze over and an unfamiliar curved blade slips from her grasp, clattering to the ground. The area falls back into tense silence, filled by Shikamaru's heartbeat thundering in his ears and Sasuke's uneven breathing as together they watch the blood spilling onto the ground between them.

Shikamaru glances at the Uchiha, the bodies thud against the wooden floor as he lets go of his jutsu, he is leaning against the wall looking winded as the adrenalin stops and reminds him of his pain, his eyes are darker than Shikamaru has ever seen before and there's a growing patch of red on his shirt, where he's clenching his side, and a few minor scratches and bruises.

"Uchiha. Good to see you alive." He says with a nod as he straightens up, grimacing as his bruised back aches in protest. "How's the side?"  
"Nara." Sasuke grimaces, they didn't exactly dislike each other but they'd always been rather wary of each other. Right now, though, they don't have the time to worry about that. He nods to the curved blade on the ground, "There was poison on that blade."  
Shikamaru doesn't quite manage to stifle a curse. He makes a bee line for the fallen kunoichi, sifting through her pockets for anything that might be a cure. Of course if she's immune to her poison, she wouldn't need to bring along a cure, and sure enough he doesn't find one.

Sasuke hisses, sagging slightly against the wall when he comes up empty. Shikamaru gets back to his feet and when he reaches the other boy and grasps his free hand to pull over his shoulders. Sasuke grunts slightly and leans into him, letting him support his weight as they haltingly make their way back to Shikamaru's mini camp.

Hanabi is standing at the entrance waiting for them with wide eyes. She pushes the door open and presents the bench the kids have cleared. The desk beside it topped with some bandages, torn cloth scraps and a yellow cat faced water bottle. Shikamaru lets Sasuke use his arm to lower himself onto the bench, and in turn the Uchiha wordlessly pulls up the hem of his shirt giving him a better view of the bloodied gash on his side.

One of the kids begins crying again, muffling the sound into their hands. Shikamaru casts a quick glance at Haruko, the oldest of the five, who pulls the crying girl away and the four civilian-born kids huddle together away from them. Hanabi stands near the desk, looking unsure.

Shikamaru looks over the wound, a little deeper than he minds, but mostly clean cut. The blade had missed his vitals but the main worry is the poison they know nothing about.

"Shit." He says. (This would have been a great time for Ino to appear with all her years of botanical knowledge.)  
Sasuke gives him a look somewhere between his usual annoyance and dark amusement, which might have worked better if he wasn't already a shade paler than usual. "Yeah."  
He's already put pressure on the surrounding area to try and force the contaminated blood out of his system. They can't risk drawing the poison out by mouth. Nara may be immune to a handful of poisons and paralytics from childhood, but they can't risk getting them both infected on chance.

Sasuke is sweating, his teeth clenched and they both stare grimly at the blood slipping between his fingers for a few moments before Shikamaru straightens. 

"Okay, I'm not sure how much that's working, but you can't lose too much blood Uchiha, I don't want you passing out or dying on me." Someone makes a choking noise behind him, "We'll have to hope that you got enough of the poison out for this to work." 

The Uchiha glares up at him as he drops one hand into his pouch, drawing his hand back with a needle pinched between his fingers. He places it besides the pile of haphazardly arranged bandages and reaches back into his pouch to pull out a small tin of medicinal cream. (All items made exclusively by the Nara clan.) It, as well as the pouch, is with him at all times, due to his mother ingraining the need to take the thing everywhere.

Sasuke frowns at him, disdain clear on his visage, "Do you know what you're doing, Nara?"  
Shikamaru almost rolls his eyes, tempted to say no, "Yes, Uchiha. My mother was a field medic."

True to his words he proceeded to quickly wash out the wound with the water from the bottle and a cloth scrap. Sasuke hisses a curse when Shikamaru begins lightly applying the cream into the wound.  
"What is that?" he demands, breathing uneven, watching the faint glow of the cream disappearing.  
"Nara clan's new bid in the med field. Also, technically, still a prototype."  


Shikamaru wastes no time, quickly ripping a corner of a scrap of bandage into threads. He threads the needle, notices Hanabi turning away in the corner of his eye, and pauses. Meeting the Uchiha's gaze half-jokingly.

"How's your pain tolerance?"

Sasuke narrows his eyes, "Just do it, Nara. We're targets enough already; we're going to have to move."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! I'm open to any constructive criticism, questions or advice you might have! Don't be shy, if you have anything to say go ahead and drop a comment or send me a message, I don't mind:)


	3. 2. Search for your wayward cousin.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew decides they need more members, they head out in search of Hanabi's cousin! And gather a few extras along the way...

### 2\. Search for your wayward cousin.

#### Konoha.

Somewhere down the line, Shikamaru had offended some god or the other. There was no other explanation for how he ended up in this situation with a wounded Uchiha, an unmarked Hyuuga, and four civilians. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, he wishes it was. They're practically asking for someone to attack them. At least Sasuke seems like he’ll still be able to fight.   
He groans, dropping his head into his hands, it can’t have been too long since he first ran into Hanabi’s little group, but it feels a lot longer.

“Oi.”   
He groans again.   
“Nara.”   
“What.” He says lifting his head. 'What a troublesome situation...'

The Uchiha is glaring at him, earlier corporation having practically evaporated as his injury healed. “Do you actually have a plan or what.”  
He can’t help the dull stare he aims at the other boy, but gets a glower in return, which reminds him to reply,

“Yes, multiple. Though how many of them will actually work is questionable since we don’t even know what the current situation is or who we’re fighting. I do have a wonderful plan that involves finding the nearest Jonin or ANBU and getting Hanabi and you far away from here.” He snarks back.

Sasuke’s eye twitches at the jab, but he apparently decides to focus on another part of the conversation (an actual conversation with the Uchiha; hell must have frozen over.) “We know who we’re fighting, isn't it pretty obvious.”

Shikamaru can only shake his head, “No, Sound is only part of it. They're too new and too small a village to have attempted an invasion now, much less alone.” He huffs, leaning into his hands (he really wants a nap), “There are others involved.”  
Sasuke’s mouth tightens into their default angry-grim line, “What the hell are we supposed to do then? Sitting here is just giving them a bigger target to hit.”

Shikamaru grimaces, rubbing his temples, “I know. We don’t really have many options, Uchiha. The academy is at least somewhat protected by the seal work in the foundation, and it’s familiar to the student; thus, easier to defend. We don’t know what the situation is like outside, and none of us are strong enough to face it, much less alone.”

He had maybe traumatized some civilian kids, and he still had no idea what to do. Scenarios dance through his mind, of different possibilities, of different plans. Unfortunately, most of them end with at least one of them dead or maimed in some way.

“We could try finding the other students. …It’ll make us a bigger target but it will also give us some more… favorable options. The graduating class should have been here for team assignments so we could try finding them. They’ll know more than our grade at the least, one of Hanabi’s cousins is Rookie of the year, he’d be our best bet.”

Sasuke frowns but-thankfully-he doesn’t argue the idea, seeing the merit, instead he leans back in his seat to inspect his injury. The wound itself looks a little peculiar, the surrounding skin discolored, but the wound itself- and the stitches holding it together -is covered by a clear layer of sorts, almost like an invisible fabric keeping the wound closed.

That problem taken care of, Shikamaru slumps into his seat, closing his eyes as his mind wanders. Away from idle calculations of their surroundings, spiraling theories about who their faceless enemies are, _'Who the hell is the leader of Sound anyway? Do they even have one?'_  
and the badgering question of the safety of his family, and onto his closest friends. _‘You two had better be okay…’_

It’s only a few precious moments they can spare for a breather before Shikamaru reluctantly pushes himself onto his feet, body complaining. Sasuke stands as well, and looks grudgingly respectful of Shikamaru-or his cream rather-when he neither collapses from blood loss nor reopens the wound as his bloodied shirt falls back into place.

Hanabi looks up to him, behind her the others follow her cues like puppies, “Nara-senpai, we’re leaving? What should I do?”

Sasuke scoffs behind him, which he chooses to ignore, instead he says,  
“Yeah. We’re going to try and find your cousin from the year above ours, Neji right?”

True to his faint expectations, Hanabi flinches slightly, her face flickers with jealousy and sadness tinged with envy,  
“Oh.” She says and follows, of course, with the question he had been anticipating, “What about Hinata-nee-sama? Why can’t we go find her?”

He doesn’t outwardly show how much he just wants to drop everything and try his chances at sleeping through the whole ordeal as he speaks.

“Hanabi… You and Hinata have the only unprotected Byakugan in the village. Coupled with the fact that we also have the only Uchiha; we’re, frankly, already a huge target for anyone we come across. Bringing Hinata into the fold, would triple either our chances of getting caught or her chances of getting caught.” _if she hasn’t been already._  


She frowned at him, looking like she was about to argue, Sasuke huffs behind him and she glances at him hesitantly. “Okay.” She agrees quietly.

“The graduating class shouldn’t be too far from our current position, it’s a little risky but we should probably stick together for this, Sasuke can you take point? You’ve got the best chances if we get attacked, Hina-sorry, Hanabi, you take rear with me.”  
_'Hopefully we won't run into anyone and this will be smooth sailing.'_

He jinxed it. Of course he did. Unfortunately for his sanity.

They do run into more people, although thankfully other academy students and not enemies, not half an hour later.

“My name is Rock Lee! It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Shikamaru feels his head throbbing as he stares back at the newest cause of his headache. He doesn't even blink when the boy gives an unnecessarily exaggerated bow, close to whacking him in the face with his braid in the process. 

Sasuke’s eyes narrow-and wow Shikamaru can practically feel the Uchiha mentally dismissing the poor guy-as he grunts back an affirmation. The brown haired girl who had led them to the other three sighs, relaxing now that they are once more out of the open,

“Right sorry about that, I’m Tenten and these two are Hiyoshi and Mino." She says gesturing to the other two who were seemingly content watching the new group with weary eyes.

"Hiyoshi, and I was training to be a medic. I also have the best knowledge on poisons in our class." The boy said nodding his head, "This is my sister, Mino, she's specializing in genjutsu."

Shikamaru nods and thankfully let's Sasuke take the lead, "We're looking for your Hyuuga classmate. We can't keep carting these kids around with us, especially if we run into another fight. Nara and I can't afford to get distracted protecting them."

Tenten frowns, "I don't like it, but you're right, if Hiyoshi goes with you two Mino and I can watch them, I'm sure Hanabi-chan can help us out."

Hiyoshi turns to her, "What? No way am I leaving Mino alone! They're clan kids they'll be fine without me."

Mino winces glancing at them but doesn't falter as she glares at her brother, "Hyoshi! Don't say that, you know they could use a medic with them! I'm a genjutsu user, with an Uchiha you won't need me, and Tenten can't do much without her scrolls and weapons. You know that! You're the best person to go."

They watch as Hiyoshi grits his teeth, looking from Mino to Tenten to Shikamaru and Sasuke, until finally, "Fine. I'll come with you."

The stop at the edge of the corridor where the shadows begin darkening the rest of the hallway. Shikamaru can feel his heart thumping against his bruised ribs.  
"Wait. Let me try something." _'Something stupid. Please don't backfire.'_  


Shikamaru closes his eyes, leaning a hand against the wall and the shadows writhe up his arm hungrily in response, he stretches out his chakra, weaving it through the dark edges of the hallways until he feels pushback. His eyes flutter open, darker than usual, not quite present and Hiyoshi shivers. "Three unknowns. One kid, hostage. One has something important, they're protecting it, feels like a scroll."

He pulls his hand away from the wall, immediately feeling the side effects, shivering. It doesn't come as a surprise because he knows he's not supposed to be trying out jutsu he's never done before, but the cold inky feeling washes off his skin leaving him shivering and uncomfortably warm. He pretends none of them see his hands shaking after.  


Sasuke meets his gaze and nods, "We need to get that kid and the scroll somehow. You," he looks up at Hiyoshi, "watch our backs and stay out of our way, we'll get the kid to you, Nara will catch them after I engage, all you have to do is make sure we don't get snuck up on. Got it?"  
Hiyoshi frowns but nods, not meeting the Uchiha's eyes, he glances over at Shikamaru instead, who watches them from under his lashes.  
Sasuke evidently doesn't care, "Good. Let's go."

Shikamru blinks and he's missing time. Whatever had happened next blurs until Shikamaru finds himself lifting an arm and stepping aside to block a roundhouse kick. Shikamaru's attention has flickered to the kid behind him momentarily, when the other shinobi follows with a punch to the face. The blow lands home. He staggers back, cursing and blinking tears out of his eyes as his nose stings, and only luck lets him see the next attack coming before he has a Kunai buried in his brain.  


Shikamaru drops to the ground, making use of flexibility he didn't know he had to duck under the sloppy knife swing. His ears feel clogged as he sweeps one leg out in an arc to knock his taller opponent off balance.  
Against all odds it works, and the boy is forced into a back handspring to avoid a nasty fall at his opponent's feet. Unfortunately for him the distance he grants through the action is all Shikamaru needs,

"Kagemane no jutsu." He whispers, over the ringing in his head, and makes quick use of the kunai in his opponent's hand-and the lack of one in his-to knock the boy out. The sound nin goes limp, collapsing in a tangle of limbs.  
Shikamaru reaches behind him and grabs the kid's hand and tugs him along towards their "medic". His cautious eyes never stray from Sasuke's fight; where one opponent is unconscious, curled against the bottom of the wall opposite him, a suspicious amount of red on the floor, and the other is decidedly not happy with this outcome.

Maneuvering himself into a more ideal position and waving the boy back towards Hiyoshi, he stretches out his shadow again.  


And  


blacks 

  


out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like it! Sorry if it seems rushed... I'm open to any constructive criticism, questions or advice you might have! Don't be shy, if you have anything to say go ahead and drop a comment or send me a message, I don't mind:)  
> p.s Here is that promised update before I disappear to study:( 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it! I'm open to any constructive criticism, questions or advice you might have! Don't be shy, if you have anything to say go ahead and drop a comment or send me a message, I don't mind:)


End file.
